Update: Thirsty Turtle to Face Liquor Board Soon

It has been one week since a quadruple stabbing stunned College Park, prompting police to crack down hard on the problem of underage drinking in the city. The Diamondback reported that 15 liquor board inspectors were prowling the streets of downtown this weekend, diminishing the typically large and boisterous crowds to a fraction of their usual size.

University Police Chief David Mitchell said at a press conference last week that he hand-delivered a letter to the county liquor board, urging them to schedule an emergency hearing to review the Thirsty Turtle's liquor license. College Park Director of Public Services Bob Ryan said that a meeting to discuss the hearing will be held among liquor board officials on Oct. 26. A hearing to review Turtle's past infractions is scheduled for Nov. 3.

Mitchell also said last week that the victims of the incident would not be charged with any wrongdoings, since doing so might provide a disincentive for students to report future incidents to police.

"Students may say, 'Well, the university is going to hammer me now, so I won't report the crime.' We don't want to have a chilling effect like that," Mitchell said.

According to District 1 Commander Maj. Robert Liberati, the case is being reviewed by the state's attorney's office, who will determine in the next week or so whether further questioning will be required of anyone else involved. The case could potentially go before a grand jury, Liberati said, though that particular scenario is improbable.

"In the end, I don't think we're going to put handcuffs on anybody else," he said.

Regarding some resident's concerns that revoking Turtle's liquor license might unleash a sea of underage drinkers upon nearby neighborhoods, neither Mitchell or Liberati are deterred from shutting the bar down. Liberati pointed out that the problems in College Park are not necessarily caused by its own residents, but the out-of-town rabble-rousers drawn to the city's cheap bar scene, and the lack of enforcement that in some cases accompany it.

"It would take away a major hub for underage drinking. Lots of people are drawn here from outside of the community to drink – that will stop," he said.

Mitchell said that though he understands the implications that closing Turtle may have on the surrounding community, his concern is primarily with enforcing the law.

"This establishment has been running afoul for awhile, but they've been caught now," he said. "We'll have to wait and see how it plays out."